Hopes of the Last Hope
by Shade-the-wanderer
Summary: Her kidnapping caused her to come, and now the reason causes her to stay...
1. A Dead Past, a Hopeless Future

Chapter 1: A Dead Past, a Hopeless Future  
  
The short, raven haired girl flipped open the laptop. She typed in the website as quickly as she could. The message said: 2 new, 218 read. An ecstatic grin spread over her face, only to be replaced by a frown when she saw that the 2 new were ads. She had been hoping to hear from her friend, who hadn't written to her in 5 years. No one even knew where she was, or if she was alive at all. Her friend had stopped writing the day he came.  
  
A gentle hand rested on her shoulder, making the girl jump. "It's my fault, isn't it? It's my fault she never writes."  
  
The girl remembered that day...  
  
~5 years ago~  
  
"What are you doing?" The girl's friend sat on the bed next to her.  
  
She laughed. "Same thing as you," she answered. "Homework." The brown haired girl laughed again. "Okay, I have to go now, call me, okay?"  
  
The raven haired girl nodded. "As soon as I can."  
  
Her friend left, leaving her alone in the cold room. A hand grabbed her shoulder, and a cold voice whispered, "You won't be calling her."  
  
She pulled herself out of the memory, turning to face the boy. "No, Lord Dilandau. I'm the one who got kidnapped." A soft, forgiving smile spread across the girl's face.  
  
~later that night~  
  
The girl sat at the desk in her room, sitting in a chat room on her laptop. Someone asked Miguel249 what her real name was. The girl smiled as she typed in 'Shade.' Then she got off the computer, and left the room to find the real Miguel.  
  
The boy was sitting in the com room, waiting. Shade sighed. "Miguel, it's midnight. If your father calls, it won't be tonight.  
  
"How do you know?" the boy asked, still staring at the blank screens.  
  
"IT"S MIDNIGHT!"  
  
Miguel turned to the girl. "Fine, I'll leave."  
  
Shade grabbed him as he walked by. "First, I need to ask you something. A very, very important question." Shade whispered something in his ear, and he whispered back. Then they both left. Miguel went to his room, while Shade went to talk to Dilandau.  
  
"Dilandau!" she shouted as she came to his room.  
  
Dilandau came to the door, still dressed. "What?!"  
  
"What am I?"  
  
Dilandau looked at her, confused. "What?!"  
  
"There must be some reason why Zaibach wanted a ten-year-old-girl, so why? Why me? What makes me so special?"  
  
The boy sighed. "I can't tell you."  
  
Shade stared straight into his ruby eyes, and whispered, "Then I'm leaving." And Shade left the hallway, headed for her room.  
  
Dilandau followed he girl. As Shade tried to close the door, He shoved his foot in between the door and the jam. "Shade, why?"  
  
"Because with no meaning, one's future is without hope." Then she kicked the boy's foot, and closed the door.  
  
"Shade, if you stay, I swear I'll tell you," the boy said.  
  
Shade opened the door, and said, "Okay. I'll stay."  
  
Dilandau smiled and said, "Thank you." 


	2. A New Hope

Chapter 2: A New Hope  
  
Shade ran down the hallway toward her lord's room. She knocked on the door, and Dilandau opened it. The boy seemed troubled, almost scared. Shade asked simply, "Why?"  
  
Dilandau leaned over, kissing the girl softly on the cheek. Then he whispered into her ear, "Because I love you, Shade." Shade smiled, and laughed softly.  
  
"I love you, too." The boy pulled away.  
  
"What?!"  
  
Shade laughed. "You said 'I love you,' and I said 'I love you, too.' Is there something wrong with that?"  
  
"No," he answered. "I just wasn't expecting it, that's all." All traces of happiness left his face. "Shade, please don't leave. I'll tell you everything."  
  
The girl smiled. "You've already told me everything I want to know." Shade kissed him, and left, closing the door behind her.  
  
Dilandau just stood there with a contented smile on his face.  
  
"MIGUEL!!!" Shade sighed. "Never mind, I know where you are. The com room."  
  
So she went to the com room where, to no surprise, she found Miguel. "Hi, Shade!" Miguel was-for the first time in days- smiling. Shade stared at him.  
  
"Let me guess, your dad called?" His smile disappeared.  
  
"No, he died." Shade's heart sunk. "And now, you're all that I have- you and the Dragon Slayers, that is." His smile returned. "But at least I have that much." Shade smiled, as well.  
  
A soft buzzing disrupted the silence. The girl looked down at the laptop, which now said 220 read, 1 new. She opened the message, which said 'Shade, bisif zipiv tiuijimim bimijiwif?' Or, in other words, 'Shade, are you still alive?'  
  
She typed 'zifit.'  
  
"Yes, I'm still alive, you snob!" she shouted at the computer. "And I'm glad. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have found my true purpose in life." She closed the computer, and smiled up at her friend. Her true friend. 


	3. Twisted Reason

Chapter 3: Twisted Reason  
  
Shade and Miguel sat quietly talking in the com room for some time. Finally, Miguel decided to go somewhere else, where they could talk alone. Unfortunately, as they were leaving, the intruder alarm went off. The vione shook momentarily, then settled again. Then, the lights slowly flickered off. It was like a dark void for several minutes, and no one moved. Everything was silent but for the blaring alarm that seemed dim now. As if the vione was drifting away without them.  
  
The lights came back on as the alarm died. Everyone gathered in the com room to count off. Dalet gave the first call, but no one answered. Their hearts sunk, knowing who was supposed to start the long chain. "lord dilandau..." Shade could hardly speak. It was as if nothing was left of her without him...  
  
"We have to find him," Shade demanded, having found her voice.  
  
Folken shook his head. "It's too dangerous. Whoever did this was professional. They shut off the lights-"  
  
"OH, REALLY? WE HADN'T NOTICED!" Now she was mad. She had been a little angry with him before, but now she was really mad.  
  
He gave her a death glare, and Shade shut up immediately. "AS I WAS SAYING, whoever did this was good. They shut off all power until they left. I think it was on a timer of some sort, so we wouldn't be right on their tails. They probably had night-vision, as well, because they had no problem finding Dilandau. I don't want you going after them, it's too dangerous."  
  
"Okay," Shade answered as she stood up and turned to leave. "I'll tell him that when I find him."  
  
Folken made no attempt to change her mind after that. He knew that there was no way to do it. Once Shade set a goal, she would not stop until it was accomplished.  
  
She went on foot, knowing it would be easier to track them (not that melef tracks weren't large enough to see from her own). From the looks of them, whoever kidnapped Dilandau had passed through the forest about 15 minutes before the lights came on; 37 minutes before she spoke with Folken; about 50 minutes from just then. Shade followed the tracks for about a mile before she heard a noise in the bushes.  
  
The noise grew quiet as soon as she came near, but it sounded like about ten men. Nothing happened for a few minutes before a voice said, "Are 'y gona justan thear, or's ye gona seet down?"  
  
Night fell quickly, and the countrymen invited Shade to stay at their camp for dinner. They spoke of several things, but never a word was spoken of Dilandau. Finally, Shade spoke up. "Have any of you men seen three melefs about here today?"  
  
The men looked at each other for a few seconds, then one of them said, "Wha's a melf?"  
  
Shade explained it to them, and they all decided they hadn't seen any 'melfs' in the area. Then she bowed, thanked them for the meal, and continued on her journey.  
  
'So they didn't have melefs... or maybe they got their hands on some stealth cloaks... or perhaps they could be Ghost Feet...' 


End file.
